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Poll Finds Pessimism on the War

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Poll Finds Pessimism on the War

July 14, 2010 5:16 pmJuly 14, 2010 5:16 pm

The public is growing pessimistic again about the course of the war in Afghanistan, where casualties among American and allied troops have been running high.

More than 6 in 10 Americans, 62 percent, say their impression is that the war in Afghanistan is going badly, up from 49 percent who held that view in May, according to a CBS News poll. Views of the course of the war are now back to roughly where they were in a December New York Times/CBS News poll, when Barack Obama unveiled his new strategy in Afghanistan.

Grim views of how the war is going cross party lines, with majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents saying the war is going badly.

Americans are divided over Mr. Obama’s handling of the war, with 43 percent saying they approve, and 44 percent saying they disapprove. Here sharp partisan differences reemerge, with a majority of Democrats approving, a majority of Republicans disapproving, and independents split.

Still, a third of Democrats disapprove of the way Mr. Obama is handling the war, three times the number that disapproves of the overall job he is doing as president.

At the same time, the poll found Mr. Obama’s greatest challenge to be the economy, the issue that is considered to be by far the most important problem facing the country and on which most say the president has not spent enough time trying to fix. More than 8 in 10 Americans rate the condition of the economy negatively, just a quarter think it’s improving, and most don’t expect relief anytime soon. Americans’ views of their local job market are also bleak.

Most, 54 percent, disapprove of the way Mr. Obama is handling the economy, while 40 percent approve. Americans divide evenly on the job he is doing as president overall, with 44 percent approving and 44 percent disapproving. His approval number matches the lowest of his presidency in CBS News or Times/CBS News polls.

The CBS News poll was conducted by telephone July 9-12 among 966 adults nationwide. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.